


Trouble in Tiny Town

by LeFay_Strent



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Borrowers - Freeform, Comedy, G/T, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-25 17:03:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20915531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeFay_Strent/pseuds/LeFay_Strent
Summary: Logan is six inches tall.And somehow the human is the one cowering in fear.





	Trouble in Tiny Town

**Author's Note:**

> This lovely story idea was inspired by this post from tumblr: https://hiddendreamer67.tumblr.com/post/188106338030/wait-what-if-patton-just-saw-one-of-the-borrower

Logan is six inches tall.

And somehow the human is the one cowering in fear.

“Please don’t hurt me!” Patton whimpers. Patton—the six feet tall human—is gazing in terror at the tiny person who has been caught red-handed on his kitchen counter.

The six feet tall human is crying.

“How would I even hurt you?!” Logan yells back in confusion and not a small amount of fear himself. Of all the reactions to get from being caught by a human, he never expected this one.

Logan had only been scavenging for food, as borrowers do. And then the human had to come home early. Logan can still hear the squeal of terror ringing through his mind, but rather than run away (which how stupid can this human be to forget that he could _run away_ with his _freakishly long legs_???), it instead backed up into the dining table and couldn’t seem to find the will to move other than shake as the panic overtook him.

What bizarre alternate reality had Logan just stepped into?

“Logan! _Logan_!” a voice hisses from down the counter. Hidden behind the sugar jar is another borrower, Roman. He keeps gesturing for Logan to run towards him, obviously too focused on survival to understand what is really happening. “What are you _doing_? Run!”

“I broke the human!” Logan explains in exasperation.

“Wha—you _broke_ him?”

“I _broke_ him! I don’t understand it!”

Roman peeks out around the sugar jar.

Patton has for some reason taken to singing Christmas carols as he weeps.

“What did you do?” Roman asks in alarm.

“_Nothing!_ I just _existed!_”

“Well your existence was so strong that it broke a human.”

“This is—this is too much,” Logan declares. He steps farther away from Roman’s hiding spot (“_Where are you going, Logan?!_”) and steps closer to the edge of the counter. The human flinches minutely which only further boggles and frustrates the borrower. “Human. Human, can you hear me?”

“Have your—yourself a m-merry little C-Christmas nooow,” Patton sings. It’s impressive that even through his sobs he manages to stay on key. He can’t manage to bring himself to look at Logan though, his gaze focused off in the air as tears stream down his face.

“There is no need for tears. Are you aware that you are infinitesimal in comparison to me?”

“I don’t th-think you m-mean that word,” he sings in time with the song.

Logan blinks, realizing that he’s not singing the lyrics, even though he is still very much singing. “What do you mean?”

“It m-m-means ‘tiny’ or ‘small’.”

“. . . infinitesimal?”

“Yepperdoodles.”

Logan reevaluates his life.

His face colors, mortified.

He lives in _walls_, okay! It’s not like he has access to a standard education!

Logan adjusts his little glasses and clears his throat. “Today we have learned. Satisfactory.”

Roman, who must have gotten tired of waiting, cautiously leaves his hiding spot to come stand by Logan.

Patton glances down at the movement. His eyes widen, not registering both of the borrowers’ flinches at having his gaze on them. His breathing pattern becomes more erratic and his first instinct is to cover his face with his hands and drop to the floor in the fetal position.

“_There’s two of you!_” Patton squeaks in a high-pitch that makes the borrowers wince.

“Well then . . .” Logan looks down at the human, at a loss. “If I broke him, you just shattered his mental stability.”

“All I did was walk out here!”

“Now you know how I feel.”

Roman shakes his head. He crouches on the edge of the counter to stare down at the trembling human.

. . . it’s kinda nice, having the positions reversed for once.

No, bad Roman! Don’t think like that, it’s mean! Humans are still people! Albeit, scarily large people, but people all the same!

At the very least, the human hadn’t tried to hurt them. The poor thing was too petrified to do anything. Roman’s compassionate nature wouldn’t let him turn away.

“Usually they’re only scared when they catch a glimpse of us and think we’re mice,” Roman muses.

“Yes, but he clearly understood that we were capable of talking, and mice don’t talk.”

“Tell that to Cinderella.”

“Ignoring your Disney obsession, we must conclude that the mere sight of tiny people has rendered this human incapable of functioning.”

“Unless . . . do you think it’s possible that he’s had bad experiences with borrowers in the past?”

Logan looks up in awe at the thought.

Awe and sheer bewilderment.

While possible, the odds that a _borrower _could traumatize a _human _to such a degree is incredibly low.

But if it had been possible . . .

“What kind of borrower . . .” Logan struggles to picture it.

Roman shrugs. “Just a thought. Other than that, most humans would be trying to pick us up by now and calling us cute.”

Logan lights up and snaps his fingers. “Yes, exactly! While most would have such a reaction, there are always outliers. The brain and how it processes input can often times be a fascinating wonder, even reacting in the _opposite _way than should be normal.”

“What, he thinks we’re so cute that he instantly melted in a puddle of fear?”

“It could be this case, yes. Think of it like when you’re so happy that you start crying. Crying is more so connoted with negative emotions, but any overwhelming emotion could cause the brain to—erm, short-circuit, as it were. This might be what we’re witnessing here.”

Roman’s jaw drops. “So you’re saying that science proves we broke the human.”

“Science theoretically proves we broke the human.” Logan nods in agreement.

“Should we . . . fix him then?”

Logan turns around and walks away. “No, we should leave.”

Roman nearly falls off the counter. He pinwheels his arms and jumps to his feet. “Wha—_Leave_? We can’t just leave him like this!”

“We can and we will.”

“But we’re the ones responsible for this! Have you no sense of accountability?”

“I do, which is why we should leave.” Logan goes to stand by the sugar jar where their climbing rope hung. “We are the source of his distress. Remaining here will only further distress him.”

“But—but there must be _something _we can do!” Roman exclaims, really digging his stubborn, chivalrous foot in. “By the spirit of Walt Disney, I cannot just walk away from a damsel in distress! Besides, what if he thinks poorly of us for leaving him like this and seeks revenge afterwards? He could call one of those exterminators on us!”

Logan freezes.

“Uh . . . Specs?”

Logan powerwalks back to the edge of the counter.

“Human. Human, I insist that you collect yourself at once so that we may converse and come to an understanding.”

“_Nooo_, leave me alone,” Patton whines on the floor, curling up tighter.

“Aww,” Roman looks down at him pitifully. “Were that my arms big enough to hold you, you horrendously large and sad creature.”

Logan jabs him in the side. “This is a very serious matter. Please human, we must discuss this matter so that all parties involved bear no ill-will towards the other.”

“C’mon Patton, let’s talk,” Roman joins in.

Logan is annoyed that Roman’s input is what spurs the human to lift his face from the safety of his hands.

“You . . . you know my name?” Patton asks. His eyes are big and shiny, red-rimmed from all the crying. He looks more like a kid right now than an adult.

Roman grins. “Hard not to! Being neighbors for so long and all.”

Logan wishes to kick Roman off the counter.

“N-neighbors?” Patton asks and the surprise melds into apprehension again.

“Yeah! For like the past year or so.”

“…do you have a tiny house in my yard or something?” Patton asks in a fearful whisper.

Roman opens his mouth and then closes just as quickly. His eyes squint, the realization of his mistake dawning on him.

“I—I, yes? Wait, I mean no! We don’t live anywhere near your humble abode! Trust me!”

Correction, Logan is _going _to kick Roman off the counter.

Patton gnaws at his lip. His body shifts like he wants to sit up, but he hesitates, choosing to remain as small as possible on the floor.

“What are you doing here?” he asks quietly.

“Just here for a snack,” Roman says cheerfully until Logan kicks him in the shin. “_Ow_—I mean, we’re not here to raid your food. We’re not hungry.”

“Please don’t eat me!” Patton begs.

“Wait, what?”

Overcome by fear once more, Patton hides behind his arms.

Roman looks at Logan, almost scandalized. “Does he truly believe that we are here to _eat_ him?”

“Even if that were true, we could not consume enough of him to cause any lasting harm really.”

Patton, evidently overhearing them, chants to himself, “It’s just a bad dream. It’s just a bad dream.”

Roman points to the human. “That time was all you man.”

Logan rolls his eyes. “The notion was far fetched in the first place. Honestly, a couple of borrowers capable of actually harming a human? This entire predicament is tiresome. Please, talk some sense into the human already.”

“Me? Everything I say you keep hitting me for it!”

“Because you’re a horrible actor!”

“Says you, Mr. Pissy Fit! Why don’t _you_ talk to him if you think I’m so bad?”

“Because everything _I _say unintentionally contributes to the human’s fear!”

“Well maybe if you tried using his _name_ and treating him like a _person_, you might actually get somewhere!”

Logan crosses his arms and turns his nose up at him.

Roman takes it as a challenge.

“Patton darling, there is no need to be troubled. We are not here to harm you. I am sorry from the deepest reaches of my heart if you thought otherwise. Won’t you look at me and at least try to let me fix this?”

Slowly but surely, Patton lifts his head.

Roman beams at him. “Wonderful! Now I know this is a tad overwhelming, but introductions are obviously in order! My name is Roman! And this cantankerous nerd over here is Logan.”

“And now you’re telling him our _names_?”

Roman gives him a pointed look and hisses under his breath, “Kick the moody attitude-y and be polite! Tell him hi!”

Logan grumbles and glances at Patton. The human stares back at him as if waiting for the final blow.

Logan sighs and raises a hand in greeting. “Salutations.”

Roman rolls his eyes and fake-whispers to Patton. “Pardon him please, his people skills are nonexistent.”

“I can make _you_ nonexistent if you keep dissing me like that,” Logan warns. Then he stands up straighter and addresses Patton. “Is that the correct usage of the word? I am realizing that my vocabulary comprehension may leave something to be desired.”

Patton blinks slowly. Logan can’t tell if he’s still scared or not.

“I think I need a nap,” Patton decides.

Roman and Logan share a confused look.

“A nap?” Roman asks. They both expect Patton to just lay his head back down and go to sleep.

Instead, Patton rises to his feet steadily, slow enough to not make the borrowers bolt outright but the movements still very _large_ enough to make them scuttle back several inches.

“A nap. Yep. I need a nap,” Patton hums. His eyes don’t look quite right, like he’s not fully seeing what’s in front of him. He bids them an airy farewell and breezes out of the kitchen despite their calls after him.

“Do you think he’s going to get something to capture us with or perhaps backup?” Logan questions.

Roman rubs the back of his neck. “That didn’t look like a tactical retreat. More than anything he looked overwhelmed. I think we really spooked him.”

“Hm, regardless we should make our own retreat and come up with a new course of action.”

“Agreed.”

* * *

Later on, Virgil returns home to find his roommate laying on the couch staring up at the ceiling.

“Patton?” Virgil asks cautiously. It isn’t like him to be so . . . still.

“I met tiny people today,” Patton says, unblinking and straight-faced.

Knowing Patton, that could mean anywhere from dogs to something he saw in a video game. Either way, Virgil decides that Patton probably wants to talk about it.

“Let me go fix us some hot chocolate,” Virgil suggests, their go-to drink. “I’ll be right back and you can tell me all about it.”

“Watch out for the tiny people,” Patton warns, still staring at the ceiling.

“Okay, Pat,” Virgil accepts.

**Author's Note:**

> Not gonna lie, I would cry too if I saw tiny people.


End file.
